Martha walks past Danny in the kitchen, and is confused to hear him hammily talking about getting married to the "loveliest girl in the world", even though he's already married. The Lorraines reveal that Danny and Mariella will be acting in a play, with Helen as the stage manager, and Danny was practicing his lines. The Lorraine parents then explain that the characters they are playing are in love, but come from different walks of life.
At the rehearsal, Danny says his lines, but Mr. Boxwood the director tells him to put more emotion into his performance. He then explains that Danny's character is a bullfighter and he's telling his fiancee that he can't give it up. Then, Mr. Boxwood decides to have Martha in the play.
Mrs. Boxwood shows the Lorraine parents their dressing room (which has a sticky doorknob), then she and Mr. Boxwood put Martha in a costume to play the bull. Martha is unhappy that she has no lines, but Mr. Boxwood tries to get her into the mood by having her say, "I am the bull". She runs onstage, yelling, "I am the bull!", but Helen tells her that she only features in the bullfighting scene, and Mr. Boxwood tells Martha to only think that she's the bull, not say it.
Danny (playing a guy named Hector), Mariella (playing his fiancee), and Mrs. Boxwood and Mr. Parkington (playing the fiancee's parents) rehearse a dinner scene. During this scene, it's revealed that Hector's fiancee's family are all vegetarians and the fiancee's name is Maria. Then, Mr. Boxwood reveals that the play ends with Hector and Maria not getting married. Helen says that she initially thought there was a missing scene, and says that they can't end it without them getting married, but Mr. Boxwood refuses to change the play.
On the night of the play, Mrs. Boxwood wishes Martha good luck, noting that people think that's bad luck, but brushes it off by asking what could go wrong. Hector/Danny fights the bull/Martha, while Ronald in the audience heckles. Maria/Mariella then tells him not to fight the bull, but he protests saying he's a "traditional man", then has trouble saying it in Spanish.
However, before they can do the next scene, the Lorraine parents get stuck in the dressing room and the doorknob falls off. Helen goes to retrieve the doorknob and free her parents via the window, but Mr. Parkington thinks that she's playing Maria, so Helen has to go along with it. Meanwhile, Danny escapes out the window and is mistaken for a superhero cosplayer by the police.
To avoid keeping the audience waiting, Martha decides to play Hector during the dinner scene. Danny arrives and wants to continue his role, but Martha declares that she is Hector and Danny's character is a phony. Danny runs away, chased by one of the policemen (Officer Bradshaw). Martha ad-libs by saying that Officer Bradshaw must be after the "phony Hector".
Danny can't find the doorknob, so he searches around wearing a shawl, but then he gets noticed and someone asks who he is. He pretends that he's Maria's sister, and Helen hands him the doorknob. Finding both cops on either side of the stage, he breaks through part of the set and escapes. He climbs up and tries to swing to the dressing room on a rope, but instead crashes onto the set and breaks it to pieces.
Mariella finally shows up, and Mrs. Boxwood ad-libs, deciding that Maria's parents got their daughters confused with each other and mistook the bull for Hector. Martha, still playing the bull, gives a speech saying that Hector and Maria should get married (but that Hector should stop fighting bulls). Mrs. Boxwood and Mr. Parkington agree in-character, so the play has a happy ending after all. Mr. Boxwood offers Martha to be in next year's play, and she accepts, but only if she has dialogue.
This episode provides examples of
- An Aesop: In-Universe. The revised play ends up with a moral: always be willing to change.
- Animal Lover: The reason Maria's family in the play don't eat meat is because they love animals.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption: Danny says that the family will go camping again next year, "...because I am..." and then the scene cuts to him rehearsing and saying, "...a traditional man."
- Bait-and-Switch Sentiment: Martha gasps upon hearing that the play involves Hector and Maria never marrying because Maria's family is vegetarian. It seems like she's concerned about a play ending on two lovers never getting together, but she's actually shocked that someone could be vegetarian (because she's a dog).
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Martha's bull costume consists of a onesie and no shoes.
- Chekhov's Gun: When the dressing room is first seen, Mrs. Boxwood reveals that the doorknob is sticky. Later on, the Lorraine parents get stuck in the dressing room.
- Cross-Cast Role: In-Universe, Martha (a female animal) plays a bull, then Danny briefly plays Maria's sister.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Played with. The play initially ends on Hector and Maria not getting married. However, it's eventually changed so that they do get married.
- Downer Ending: Defied in-universe. The play originally ends with Hector and Maria never marrying despite their love for each other, but eventually it gets rewritten so they do get married.
- Episode Tagline: Two due to play roles:
- Danny keeps saying, "I am a traditional man! !Soy una hombre traditionale!".
- Martha keeps saying, "I am the bull!".
- Fake Faint: Mariella pretends to Faint in Shock when being dramatic about the play's premise.
- Grandma's Recipe: In the play, Maria's parents have a secret recipe that was passed down through the generations.
- Incorrect Animal Noise: In-Universe, when Martha is playing a bull, she roars instead of mooing.
- Irony: Despite Ronald heckling the play for most of it, he eventually considers it the best play ever and is the first one to clap.
- Mistaken Identity: In the play, there seemingly being two Marias (Mariella and Helen) and two Hectors (Danny and Martha) is explained away by Maria's parents confusing Maria's sister for Maria.
- Narm: In-Universe. Maria's mother's line "Have that man in my house? I'd rather have my house come down around my ears!" is meant to be serious since it's her forbidding her daughter from marrying her lover. However, seeing as after she says it, the set falls to pieces, it just makes the audience laugh.
- Noodle Implements: Helen handing Danny the doorknob is incorporated into the play as Maria handing her sister a doorknob for no reason.
- Running Gag: Danny keeps having trouble pronouncing "traditionale".
- Shared Family Quirks: In the play, Maria's family are all animal lovers.
- Skewed Priorities: Martha is initially more concerned by the fact that Maria's family doesn't eat meat than the fact that she never marries Hector.
- Slow Clap: First Ronald claps at the end of the play, then gradually everyone else does.
- Superheroes Wear Capes: Discussed when two cops see Danny on the side of the building in a cape and think he's a loony superhero cosplayer.
- Superstition Episode: Downplayed. The second half of the episode involves Mrs. Boxwood explaining that "break a leg" actually means "good luck", and explicitly wishing someone luck in a theatre is considered bad luck... and then, the play goes wrong in many ways.
- Tears of Joy: When the play ends with Hector and Maria getting married after all, one of the cops cries.
- Tempting Fate: Mrs. Boxwood says that it's just a superstition that wishing people luck is bad luck, and asks what could go wrong... just before many things start going wrong.
- Throw It In!: Several In-Universe examples.
- When Danny runs up despite Hector already being in view (played by Martha) and being chased by the police, Martha explains that this is a phony Hector.
- When Danny walks onstage again looking for the doorknob, he ad-libs and plays Maria's sister.
- When Danny and Mariella finally are ready onstage, Mrs. Boxwood ad-libs by establishing that Maria's parents got their two daughters mixed up and thought the bull was Hector.
- Voodoo Shark: Played for laughs. The explanation of the apparent appearance of two Hectors and two Marias is explained by Maria's parents getting Maria and her sister confused and mistaking the bull for Hector. Ronald points out that this doesn't make sense (because why wouldn't they be able to tell their own daughters apart, much less mistake a bull for a human?), but Mr. Boxwood just shrugs.
